Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) Stock Has Average Price Target of $20.00 According to Analysts

Shares of Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.00.

PRTA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 25th.

Prothena News Summary

Investors following PRTA have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder William Scully bought 140,000 shares for about $1.19 million at $8.53 each, increasing his position by 16.73% to 977,000 shares. The purchase may signal confidence in Prothena. Insider purchase report
• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright reiterated its Buy rating and $30 price target. Separately, a Zacks article noted that the consensus target implies roughly 120% upside from recent levels, although it cautioned that price targets can be unreliable. Zacks article
• Neutral Sentiment: A short-interest report listed short interest at zero shares and a 0.0-day ratio, despite describing a large increase; the figures provide no clear directional signal. Short-interest information

Prothena Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PRTA opened at $8.73 on Friday. Prothena has a 52 week low of $7.73 and a 52 week high of $11.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $448.29 million, a P/E ratio of -18.19, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of -0.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $8.60 and its 200 day moving average is $9.18.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.23) by ($0.09). Prothena had a negative net margin of 45.44% and a negative return on equity of 9.98%. The company had revenue of $0.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.58 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Prothena will post 0.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Prothena news, major shareholder William P. Scully bought 162,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.68 per share, for a total transaction of $1,406,160.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 214,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,857,520. This trade represents a 311.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have purchased 1,157,500 shares of company stock worth $9,849,050 in the last three months. 10.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prothena

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Prothena during the 3rd quarter worth $239,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Prothena by 59.8% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 25,779 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 9,650 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in Prothena by 6.2% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 61,507 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $515,000 after buying an additional 3,589 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Prothena by 179.1% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 5,704 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 3,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in Prothena in the second quarter valued at about $404,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

About Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing treatments for diseases associated with protein misfolding and dysfunction. Its research focuses on using antibodies and other biologic approaches to target proteins implicated in neurological and systemic disorders. The company’s pipeline has included programs for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and AL amyloidosis. Its investigational therapies include prasinezumab, developed in collaboration with Roche, and programs targeting amyloid beta and transthyretin-related disease.